Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Price Target Increased to $99.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $99.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on EW. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. OTR Global raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a mixed rating to a positive rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $93.33.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $86.43 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1 year low of $60.57 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.85.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 23.34%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,925.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total transaction of $944,130.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at $3,390,542.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total transaction of $567,993.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 125.0% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL PRECISION and Cardioband names.